So, there recently was a video that I was watching, and unboxing for Unsettled, I’ll put it down below. Where the gamer was talking about how Alpha Gaming is a problem in board gaming. That is why he isn’t the biggest fan of cooperative games all the time. And that really got me thinking about alpha gaming. Is Alpha Gaming a problem with cooperative games?

What Is Alpha Gaming?

Alpha Gaming is when one player at the table, and generally in cooperative games, is taking over the game. By that I mean, it is your turn, and this player is telling you what to do. It is your turn and they are playing it. This can be as little as telling you what the optimal play is, to as much as telling and then moving your pieces and playing your cards for you.

More simply put is alpha gaming is stepping on the agency of another player to play the game.

Is Alpha Gaming A Cooperative Game Problem?

So this is where it gets to be a little bit trickier. There are games out there that help so that alpha gaming isn’t a problem. The Lost Expedition, you can’t discuss the cards in your hand. Say Bye To the Villains and Gloomhaven don’t let you give specifics. So cooperative games are looking to solve the problem, but alpha gaming isn’t a problem of the game.

Alpha gaming is a problem of the player(s) at the table. When you play a cooperative game, one person might know it better. And that person might take over the game, but that is a choice that player makes. The game isn’t making them tell people what the optimal play is.in their eyes. The game isn’t making them try and play the game by themselves. That is on the player.

So Why Does Alpha Gaming Happen?

It can happen for a few different reasons in my opinion. And I don’t think my list here is every reason that it might be. I also think for a lot of alpha gamers, it is going to be a combination of these.

• The Need To Win
• They Need To Be Heard
• The Need To Go Fast
• They Know The Game The Best

The Need To Win

This one is probably the most simple and obvious. Some players, playing a game is about winning. They don’t care as much about the time at the table with friends. They don’t care as much about the experience. A game is meant to be defeated. And if they believe they have an optimal strategy, they are going to say it.

How To Change:

This one is tricky, because inherently most games have a win condition. I say most because I know of one game where it’s more like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley. But many gamers don’t realize they have this drive to win or that it’s taking over the table. So a conversation after a game night, or before, with an alpha gamer, and just let them know. If they are there for the experience as well, they should be receptive.

They Need To Be Heard

This alpha gamer doesn’t need to win, they just like to hear themselves talk. It’s a trickier one because this is probably something that is in every part of their life. And it could come from a lot of different places. Some people are just loud and don’t realize that they talk over people. Other people haven’t been heard before and are not compensating for that.

How To Change:

I’m dipping into my Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master experience here. In D&D, I keep and eye on who is talking and who isn’t talking. Some of that is some people like the spotlight more. But when there is a question, a decision to be made, if two people are doing all the talking, and one person isn’t. I’ll ask that person what their thought is, or what their character will do.

This might meant that I interrupt someone else. But the same works at the gaming table. Before the decision is made, if someone is walking over someone’s turn, ask that quiet player what they want to do on their turn. And don’t be rude about it to the person who was talking or dismiss them, but ask what the active player wants to do.

The Need To Go Fast

It might come from the fact that they want to get through the game quickly. They can see a strategy and once they’ve seen it, it’s time to get moving. This might be because of a legitimate time constraint, or it might be that they just want to go fast. So when they see something, some strategy, they expect everyone to see it at the same time. And when things don’t move that fast, they start taking over the game.

How To Change:

This is similar to needing to talk, or my thoughts on that. Shift the focus back away form the person who needs to go fast. Ask the active player what they’ve been thinking about for the turn. Because maybe they have a strategy or idea that the other player hasn’t seen.

And the player who goes fast is probably the one most apt to touch and move pieces. Simply because if they help move stuff, it’ll go faster. In that case, ask them to stop. In the game ask them to stop, point out that it’s the active players turn not theirs and let them do their move. This can be a little bit rude with how you say it, not mean, but make it clear.

They Know The Game The Best

This often happens when the alpha gamer is teaching new players. The idea most of the time behind this isn’t because they feel like they’re smarter than everyone or anything malicious. Instead, they want people to like the game as much as they do. And they taught it, so they’ll point out strategy and the optimal move. Often times this comes also from the idea that winning the game will give the other players a better experience.

How To Change:

This also comes back to asking the active player what they want to do. What moves they are thinking of. But I think this is the one that is easiest for someone to notice when they are alpha gaming. So I have some advice for when you notice yourself doing that.

If someone is taking a while, if someone maybe needs a little prompting, don’t tell someone what to do. Give them options or suggestions. Let’s use Pandemic as an example, if there are four cities with three cubes on and an optimal play you can see is to go to one and clear cubes, don’t point to the one and say, clear cubes here. Say, “Hmmm… we have four cities that we might want to clear cubes off of because they have three.” You just gave them four options of things they can do.

Or give multiple options. “You could clear cubes on one of these four cities, or you could try and meet up with this player to trade a card, or you could go to Lagos and build a research center because you have that card.” There might be an optimal play in there, or even two things that they can do out of that group. But they get to decide. This is something I do in D&D as well, give players a few options if they seem stuck.

Can Everyone Stop Alpha Gaming?

Some people can’t. And for some people that is because cooperative games might not be for them. Not playing a cooperative game isn’t a bad thing. If that is how you avoid alpha gaming, that is perfectly acceptable.

Yes, there are a lot of good cooperative games out there. But there are more good competitive games out there. Why, because more competitive games come out every year than cooperative. So it isn’t like you need to force yourself to stop alpha gaming. You might just need to stop playing cooperative games.

I know I talked about a lot of ways to stop. And maybe there are some ways that you hadn’t thought about before. Or maybe those different reasons, it might help you understand why you do it, or why someone does. But it is something hard to change. And it might not be worth the effort to change, that is on a personal level and a gaming group level.

What Games Help With Alpha Gaming?

There are some times when maybe your group really likes cooperative games. And either you or one person in the group are an alpha gamer. It doesn’t change over night, so there are some games that help with the alpha gaming. What are some that you could maybe try and help curb the alpha gaming with?

The Lost Expedition

In The Lost Expedition you as a group are adventuring to the lost city of Z. You trek in the morning and evening and you do that by playing down cards in a row and then going through those cards. How this helps with the alpha gaming problem is you can’t discuss the cards in your hand. So no one can tell you what card is the right one to play when.

And I think this one is good because when going through those cards, it’s a chance to practice not being an alpha gamer. Everyone leans in and looks at the cards, and discuss as a whole who to get through them. So if you find you have a tendency to alpha game, this game stops you from doing it for part of it, and gives you a chance to practice not in the other half.

Say Bye To The Villains

Like The Lost Expedition, you are limited with how much you can tell people in Say Bye To The Villains. You can trade cards, so I might say that I can help someone a lot with their speed, but I can’t say specifics of how I can do that. It might be that it’s the infinite speed card or a +4 speed. But the game rules prevent that from happening.

This one I think it’s a little easier to slip up on. But the game is also more punishing than The Lost Expedition. So Say Bye to the Villains can work better with that little bit of table talk. But it’d be a nice one where a single person can’t do everything, because some of the information just isn’t available to them. And everyone else following the rule can stop alpha gaming.

Spirit Island

This is one that I haven’t played. But I always hear about this one as a very good one for alpha gamers. Why, because each spirit that you can play is so differently. That means that unless the alpha gamer has played the game so much they know every spirit that they won’t know how they play. And the puzzle for each spirit is fairly complex, so to optimize their own strategy will require effort on their behalf.

This one isn’t as easy for a more casual group. But if you’re heavier into gaming, it’s one that makes a lot of sense. And there are so many spirits, and expansions. So if you ever feel like it’s getting close, just get new spirits and mix them in.

Final Thoughts

Alpha gaming or any negative thing impacts enjoyment are hard to talk about when it comes to gaming. And a lot of the times people don’t realize that they are actively doing it or how to stop. I hope that this is something that helps some people know how to deal with it better.

I think, in the end, most of us want to play games and play games with more people. Alpha gaming can hurt in the development of new gamers. And it’s something that can come from a good place. So, especially with new gamers, if you know you have that tendency, try and hold back. It’s worth taking a loss or two, making less than ideal moves, and setting aside a little bit of your enjoyment for a moment, to find new gamers.

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